Summary
Personal Information
Voyage
Transportation
Joseph Ashton was transported on the George The Third, departing 12th Dec 1834 and arriving 12th Mar 1835 with 220 passengers.
Built at Deptford, England in 1810. 394 tons, 114 feet length, 28 feet 3 inches beam. Registered at the Port of London. George III, was wrecked on reefs at the south-eastern entrance to the D'Entrecasteaux Channel, Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) on 12 March 1835 near the end of a voyage from Woolwich to Hobart Town. 133 of 220 male convicts on board lost their lives, 81 survived, one being a 10yr old boy. Only five of the 88 crew, guards and their families were drowned. Firearms had been discharged to keep the convicts below decks while the latter were being evacuated.
George The Third (generic)References
| Primary Source | Australian Joint Copying Project. Microfilm Roll 90, Class and Piece Number HO11/9, Page Number 491 (247) |
| Source Description | This record is one of the entries in the British convict transportation registers 1787-1867 database compiled by State Library of Queensland from British Home Office (HO) records which are available on microfilm as part of the Australian Joint Copying Pro |
| Original Source | Great Britain. Home Office |
| Compiled By | State Library of Queensland |
| Database Source | British convict transportation registers 1787-1867 database |
Claims
"Researching on behalf of the Ashton family - checking for connections to James Henry Ashton"
Photos
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Convict Notes
Who was Joseph? Where did he come from? Hoping to uncover his life story and share that here for others in the near future.
UK, Prison Hulk Registers Name Joseph Ashton Age 51. Estimated Birth Year abt 1783 Date Received 2 Aug 1834 Ship Justitia. Place Moored Woolwich Date Convicted 12 Jul 183. Place Convicted Lincoln. Offence; Stealing Lamb.
Extract of Home Office transportation registers (The National Archives microfilm HO11) Joseph Ashton; Lincoln Assizes; 12-7-1834; Life; Drowned A convict eyewitness related to George Loveless (another convict & Tolpuddle Martyr)that when the ship struck, the prisoners were all locked below immediately. "the bottom of the ship was fast filling with water; they called aloud to have the hatches opened, but to no purpose; and when they were up to their middles in water, they rushed forward and burst open the hatches and endeavoured to ascend the ladder;the soldiers, however, at the top fired on them and killed many; others had their throats cut with cutlasses. The man who was going up by my side, was shot, but I escaped....only eighty-one of the whole shipload was taken on shore alive, and a great number of them were so emaciated and crippled, that they were obliged to carry them to hospital."